1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to heterogeneous devices comprising a plurality of heterogeneous circuit devices and methods for fabricating a plurality of such devices heterogeneous circuit devices in a single substrate.
2. Description of Related Art
Systems are known that employ multiple different or heterogeneous devices. For example, a microelectromechanical system (MEMS)-based optical communication system may employ various electronic and optical devices, including circuits/devices such as complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuits, photodiodes, double-diffused metal oxide semiconductor (DMOS) transistors, bipolar transistors and the like, to implement various functions.
In such systems, each of the heterogeneous devices are fabricated on separate chips using different processes. The fabricated devices are then combined to form various components of the overall system. For example, in optical telecommunications systems, various heterogeneous integrated circuit chips, such as photodiodes, complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) signal processing circuits and high voltage drivers, are wire bonded into the optical system to achieve signal conversion/processing functions and mechanical control functions, such as mechanical switching.
The conventional approaches to combining heterogeneous devices require additional time and expense for accurate bonding of the separate chips and result in relatively bulky components. These bonding/assembling processes also introduce noises into the system. In addition to the actual combining process, separate processes are required for each different device, resulting in high costs and long processing times.